The present disclosure relates generally to hinge and slide devices, and more particularly, to such a packaging efficient device for vehicle doors.
Sliding door structures are generally implemented on vehicles to reduce the door swing distance from the vehicle body; to allow for better ingress and egress into or from a vehicle; and to improve the package (or layout) of a vehicle. This type of design is particularly helpful when a user is parking a vehicle in a confined area where there is little available room for door swing.
In the sliding door structure, guide rails are generally included at the roof rail/cant rail and rocker sill, as well as adjacent to a vehicle body class A surface (the exterior sheet metal of the vehicle). The guide rail on the class A surface is generally configured as a linear track just below the side window. In addition, such vehicles generally also implement a curved guide track on the vehicle body at the sill and/or side rail/cant rail to guide the sliding door into the closed position against the vehicle body. To open the sliding door, the sliding door is projected in a vehicle exterior direction along a curved guide rail, and then the sliding door is moved along a separate linear guide rail to a fully opened position. To close the traditional sliding door, the sliding door is moved from the linear guide rail to the curved guide rail such that the as the door travels along the curved guide rail, the door is pulled inward against the vehicle to a closed position.
However, a traditional sliding door movement does coincide with the curved shape of the guide rail once it transitions from the linear track to the curved track resulting in a two step operation for opening and closing the sliding door, thereby resulting in disrupted motion as the vehicle door is opened and closed